ACCESSION
NUMBER:355867
FILE ID:LEF412
DATE:08/04/94
TITLE:U.S. HOPES TO WORK WITH COLOMBIA AGAINST CALI CARTEL (08/04/94)
TEXT:*94080412.PFL
*LEF412 08/04/94
U.S. HOPES TO WORK WITH COLOMBIA AGAINST CALI CARTEL
(SP) (Gelbard, Skol at House hearing Aug. 3 - LSI408) +lf (640)
By Louise Fenner
USIA Staff Writer
WASHINGTON -- The U.S. government wants to continue its longstanding
cooperation in the war on drugs with the Colombian government and will
judge President-elect Ernesto Samper by the actions he takes following his
Aug. 7 inauguration, according to two top State Department officials.
"What is important is what happens in the future," Michael Skol, principal
deputy assistant secretary of state for inter-American affairs, told an
Aug. 3 House subcommittee hearing. "We will be looking for action, for
aggressiveness, for (Samper) doing something about the Cali cartel."
He added that "our hope is that we can duplicate the level of
counternarcotics cooperation under President Gaviria, and we will do
everything we can to make that happen."
Skol and Robert Gelbard, assistant secretary of state for international
narcotics matters, said the United States expects Samper to keep his
promise to order a thorough, independent investigation of allegations that
his presidential campaign received contributions from the Cali cocaine
cartel.
Gelbard said he met with Samper last October to discuss the charges, months
before an audio tape was made public that appeared to confirm a link
between the campaign and the cartel. He said Samper "vigorously denied it"
and told him that two campaign staffers had been dismissed for accepting
such contributions.
However, Gelbard added, "We have felt that the totality of the evidence, the
reports we have received of involvement of drug traffickers in the
campaign, could cause a resonable person to believe this is the case.
"Samper has called for an investigation. We hope and expect that this will
be an independent, serious investigation of the entire campaign."
Much of the hearing focused on why a program to share radar tracking data
with Peru and Colombia was suspended May 1 and has not yet been restored.
Rep. Robert Torricelli (D-NJ) complained that cocaine flights to the United
States have increased 20 percent since May because Peru and Colombia are
unable to use U.S. radar data in their drug interdiction programs.
The Defense Department suspended the intelligence-sharing program because a
1egal review found that a 1984 law forbids the U.S. government from
supporting activities by foreign governments that could result in the
shooting down of civilian aircraft in flight. Furthermore, U.S. officials
could conceivably be prosecuted for abetting such a shootdown.
"This is an absurd interpretation of the law," said Torricelli, adding that
he believes the United States is "disproportionately responsible for the
current problems in U.S.-Colombian relations."
Gelbard said the intelligence-sharing program cannot be restored until
Congress passes a Defense Department authorization bill with a provision to
amend the 1984 law, which was requested by the Clinton administration.
Since much of Congress's attention is focused on health care reform, it is
not clear whether Congress will be able act on the Defense bill before
beginning a three-week recess later in August.
He said the United States was unable to finalize interim agreements with
Peru and Colombia that would have reinstated the intelligence-sharing
program as long as those countries agreed not to use the data to shoot down
civilian aircraft.
He also stressed that the radar intelligence-sharing program is only one
aspect of U.S. counternarcotics programs with Latin America. Gelbard
criticized Congress for slashing economic, military and other
counternarcotics assistance programs, putting conditions on aid, and
continuing a freeze on funding for Peru that would support an eradication
program there.
"We need a much greater overall attack on the narcotics problem," he told
the panel.
The hearing was jointly sponsored by the House subcommittees on Western
Hemisphere affairs and international security.
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